Buttercream Roses...remind Me How?
Decorating By randipanda Updated 12 Jul 2007 , 2:49am by DecoratorJen
It has been 5 years since I've made buttercream roses and I was never very good at them to begin with. So I decided to try again and am getting nowhere fast. I made my stiff icing and my petals tore horribly. I added some piping gel, and they still tore. I'm tempted to add more, but am worried then it will get to soft. Should I had piping gel then more sugar?
Other problem...as I am making these they keep sliding off my waxed paper or my rose nail. I remember this happenng before as I made these, but don't remember if/what I came up with to keep it from happening. Ahhhh!! Help please. I'm going to start throwing things soon.
This was happening to me too when I first started making roses. Someone suggested opening up the metal tip (I was using Ateco 104) a little more and it worked. Then I went and bought a new one (Wilton) and it worked even better. Maybe it's not you after all 
hopefully this link will work:
http://www.wilton.com/decorating/basic/roses.cfm
Mine tear too!
I stink 
at making roses!
If I have to make them, I do them from Royal, it helps a little. I stick all the papers down with some Royal and let it sit a while. I then make the base and let it sit for several more minutes, before trying to make the petals. This helps the falling over and rolling away probelms I used to have.
Well, I added more piping gel, opened my tip up some more and they are working a lot better. I still have a long way to go, but they are doing better. I also watched this video, which helped. (I have trouble with the wilton video, for some reason didn't help me at all...)
http://www.cliksecrets.com/cake-videos.php
Thanks for everyone's help. I think it is just practice, practice, practice from here.
Oh, does everyone use waxed paper squares or do parchment paper ones work better? (I was thinking maybe the roses won't slide off the parchment like it would the waxed paper. )
I've never had my waxed paper slide off the flower nail.....I put a dab of icing directly on the nail first and then I put the piece of wax paper on that icing. It helps it stick. Also, some people use a Hershey kiss as the middle of their rose instead of a mound of icing. I have tried this once and it seemed to work really well. It's the only way I'll do it now. 
It has been 5 years since I've made buttercream roses and I was never very good at them to begin with. So I decided to try again and am getting nowhere fast. I made my stiff icing and my petals tore horribly. I added some , and they still tore. I'm tempted to add more, but am worried then it will get to soft. Should I had then more sugar?
Other problem...as I am making these they keep sliding off my waxed paper or my rose nail. I remember this happenng before as I made these, but don't remember if/what I came up with to keep it from happening. Ahhhh!! Help please. I'm going to start throwing things soon.
Make sure your icing has a good consistency, you want it stiff but not dry...dry icing will cause tares in your petals...
Make sure you are turning your flower nail and piping your petals at the same speed when your making the arch of the petals, this will lessen the tares..if you are turning the nail faster than your making the petals this promotes most the tares you are dealing with.
Also sometimes the narrow part of the 104 tip needs to be pried open ever so slightly...
I always have better luck using Royal icing to make my piped roses..Buttercream has a tendency to melt into itself and puddle, especially if the bag becomes warm from you holding it too long, if this is the case when you pipe roses using Buttercream use two bags letting one stay cool while you use the other and visa versa.
If the roses are sliding off your nail and wax paper it sounds like there may be too much butter,Crisco or the icing consistency is too soft...
HTH, Mary 
At the Wilton instructors meeting this year, they suggested that from now on, we use a little Crisco to attach the waxed paper square to the flower nail. It seemed to work quite well, and wasn't as messy as using a dab of icing.
Sometimes the petals will tear if the icing is too stiff. There's a really fine line between too stiff, too soft, and just right. Adding very very small amounts of water at a time, you can try thinning down your icing slightly. When you say the roses are coming off the paper, perhaps the icing is a little too stiff to stick properly. Keep trying and don't give up!
But the best advice is practice, practice, practice!
Does it make me a horrible person if I have considered just purchasing them??
They are so cheap to buy and mine look so bad.
No, it dont make you a horrible person,all we are expected to do in life is the best we can
Okay, so now I'm confused- if the icing is too stiff it'll tear the petals, if it is too soft it'll slide. So my rose was both sliding and tearing so it is too stiff and too soft at the same time?
I ended up with a couple good roses when I just tried to use the nail w/o paper. I'll try parchment and see if that helps. They also started to tear less as I got to the bottom of the bag and the icing was warmer...is my icing is still too stiff?
Well, I played alot today and got my roses to start looking pretty good. I realized it wasn't really a problem with my icing after all, I wasn't squeezing hard enough, thus not enough icing was coming out of the tip to make it able to make the curve without tearing. So squeeze hard!
I was having problems making roses till i saw this video..i saw what i was doing wrong and the first rose i made and every one after that turned out perfect...hope this helps...
http://www.cliksecrets.com/s1.htm
I was a Wilton instructor for 3 years and what works for me is add more shortening. You still need stiff or your rose will go flat. Hope this helps. Also check out the Wilton website (as sjm113) suggested. They have a section on techniques that might be a good refresher!
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